Forever I have told myself that "the spiritual path is hard."

Taking the "high road," deep interior focus, doing the pickaxe work of facing false ego stories and programmed identity -- all hard. I've worn this like a badge.

Commit your attention and take action, increase your knowledge and understanding through this awareness, and then surrender.

This is the wisdom of Patanjali’s Sutra 2.1: tapah svadhyaya ishvara-pranidhana kriya-yogah

This means...

Here's the message that is running through my head on repeat:

You can't do it by trying harder.

Whether it's a yoga pose or healing a heart.

Many of us are wanting individual holding, to be witnessed and supported through our specific experience. If that is you, I'd love to be with you in that way. Let's get your nervous system regulated so that everything else is not as hard…

So there's a learning curve to this technology thing :)

Let's go into a little more detail on how to find the morning meditations:

In response to some requests I’ve been getting, I’m excited to share two regulation tools, immediately available. Things are really hard right now. Scary, confusing, disappointing, frustrating and so much more. So much unknown. We all know panic doesn’t help your immune system, nor your state of mind.

A lot of people, likely including you, are having to make hard decisions right now.

Should we cancel the trip?
Should I keep my kid home?

I'm finding it so hard in these days of devastation, for some reason now more than other times, to talk about "regular stuff" and just go on about my day. I mean, there are wonderful things going on -- winter is my favorite, it's the start of a new year, a new decade, I have so many fresh business ideas…

When we are a little further down the grief path — this may be months or years of calendar time — the focus shifts from surviving to acknowledging other aspects of life and thinking about the future. You may still be trying to make sense of this new life, you may feel a desire to start putting pieces together.

One of the most wonderful things about this season is that it is the only time of year when we are collectively encouraged to believe in magic. Flying reindeer, elves in a workshop at the North Pole, a man in a red suit coming down the chimney to leave presents. Isn't it fabulous? Maybe you've heard…

Did you wake up this weekend and think, "It's already December!?" I did.

Worse, I was saying it even in the last days of November. Nothing like giving away time.

Then I decided to swap one word out of that sentence and everything changed. Try it with me.

These were the words of my 23 year old stepdaughter at lunch last week:

"It's not like it is in the movies!"

She was talking about love.

Last week's post on creating a bigger container seemed to resonate with many people. Grief and loss touch all our lives and remind us of our togetherness.

Well, last week we wrapped up the filming of Yoga for Grief, which will air in November on Yoga Anytime. (If you want to check out their top-notch content then or before then, use the code MICHELLE for a 30-day free trial.) I will, of course, let you know when it comes out. I am beyond excited to share it.

It's a common scenario: at some point after consistent yoga practice, a student will make the bewildered comment, "I used to feel so much better after yoga but lately I feel worse."

This is actually good news.

Is there a right way to do Warrior I?

One of the things we've been exploring in class on Sunday mornings is how tempting it is to buy into the paradigm of Right and Wrong.

Hard to believe we're into the seventh month of the year. And what a year it's been!

As I've been hearing from many of you as well, this year has been a doozy for me. Health issue after health issue, carefully crafted plans getting demolished, a lot of personal de/re-construction, all on top of family/ancestral wounds in need of healing.

Do you ever feel like it's just "one thing after another?" Or have you heard yourself say, with some amount of sourness, "it's always something!"

Of course you have. You're human and all kinds of things happen in life.

Mmmmm, there’s nothing like a warm, comforting cup of tea on a winter day.

Personally, I love chai. It’s my coffee (since I don’t like coffee).

And chai spices have their medicinal benefits. Fennel, cardamom and coriander are great for digestion and black pepper and ginger are fabulous for kicking on a little fire.

Happy January!

How is your year going so far (non-rhetorical question)?

Usually I do a word or motto of the year. This year I'm thinking about intentions that are more seasonal. Something that feels right at the beginning of the year when it's cold and dark might not be where I am at the peak of summer or the dryness of autumn.